Blind Depths
by AlexandriaLiddell
Summary: Set during the galactic war of the Old Republic. This is a story of a girl neither Jedi nor Sith. But something in the middle. A girl who wants to see both sides fall.
1. Chapter 1

_Every conflict in galactic history is either instigated or made worse by the Jedi and the Sith. How many countless souls shall suffer while they tear the universe apart?_

Blasters fire was the only thing that could be heard. The sergeant was shouting orders into his commlink, but even these words were drowned out among the chaos of the battle.

It was the planet of Faa in the Kamino system. Three months ago, the Sith enacted a scorched earth campaign and when it was over they claimed the ashes. The 421st was sent in for reconnaissance purposes. Our mission was to observe the Sith capabilities and report back to the fleet so the liberation could begin.

But something somewhere went wrong. As we patrolled the forest near the capital, we found ourselves in an ambush. How they knew we were here I will likely never know.

We're outnumbered 3 to 1 and they have the high ground. We have managed to break their left line, but that is all we have managed. And now there weren't many of us left.

I moved back behind the tree I was using for cover just as a red bolt passed through the space my head had previously occupied. I surveyed our position. There was eight of us now, not counting the Jedi. I had a few choice words with the commander when he said that she would be overseeing us during this mission. A new face breaks the flow of the team. Now I think she may be the only thing that can get us out of this.

She was locked in combat with some Sith warrior… lord? I didn't know. I didn't care. She was keeping him from using that Lightsaber on us and that's all I cared about.

I pulled out a thermal detonator and primed it. Withdrawing from cover I hurled it at a cluster of war droids. They were too dumb to avoid it. The explosion sent pieces of earth and metal everywhere in a great cloud that provided the perfect cover. I signaled to the two men nearest me and we advanced.

Blaster shots whizzed by, but none found their mark. Now we were on high ground, behind the enemy. We ducked behind a few trees, and then unleashed several volleys of shots down into the midst of their force. This seemed to cause them to stagger. The soldiers anyway, the droids didn't care. Now it seemed like the fight was sitting comfortably at 2 to 1 odds. We just might make it home after all.

As I thought this, something in my peripheral vision caught my eye. At first I thought it was an unlucky bird flying into the contested air because it was moving so fast. But it got closer and I could tell that it was no bird as it was human shaped. Woman shaped. Before I could process this, she darted into the cloud of dust still hanging in the air from my grenade.

At first I thought she had gotten lost and was unfortunate enough to end up here. But her silhouette in the dust moved with a speed of purpose. She was using the dust to cover her movement just as we had, though I couldn't have guessed as to why.

That is when a yellow luminescent shaft appeared in the dust as visibly as if the explosion hadn't happened. I could almost hear the hum of it over the hectic battlefield. Was she another Jedi? Her light saber wasn't red so she must be. Our odds just kept on improving.

I couldn't take my eyes away from her. Though I had to rub my eyes to make sure I was seeing this right. She was sprinting head long into a cluster of about five droids, and she showed no sign of slowing down. She cut down the first losing no momentum and she rolled into the second, before cutting down the third. She then crashed into the fourth knocking it helpless to the ground and decapitated the last, and then just kept on running. The droids never even managed to fire off a shot. It was like her body was a projectile. She hit quick, she hit hard and then moved on. And she seemed to be heading for the Lightsaber duel taking place in the center of the skirmish.

The Sith was too focused on the fight that he never even turned to see her. The Jedi on the other hand noticed, but couldn't react as she was locked in the duel. The mystery girl must have used the force. Because she leapt about five yards into the air, kicked herself off a tree, and with light saber outstretched, slammed it with full force down into the back of the Sith.

He collapsed to the forest floor and didn't move. I felt a sense of elation that lasted less than a second. The girl used her momentum carried over from her acrobatics to deliver a spinning elbow into the Jedi's temple. The Jedi herself was too bewildered to mount a defense, and as she flailed back she lost grip of her Lightsaber. The girl caught it, and turned her own off before grabbing the Jedi by the hair and bringing her head down into her knee. I could almost hear the impact. If the Jedi was alive after a hit like that, she didn't look it. She was as still as the Sith with the plasma burn still glowing in his back.

What had just happened? Before I could make sense of anything, the forest was filled with the sound of engines. A vessel, I didn't know what class had appeared in the sky. The bay hatch opened, and a tether fell down. The girl stretched out her had not to grab the cable, but to send a shockwave into a group of Sith soldiers who were getting to close.

I couldn't get hung up on this. Jedi or no, we had the advantage. If we wanted to live we would have to press it. I resumed the barrage on the remaining enemy combatants, and saw once more out of the corner of my eye the girl tying the Jedi with the cable. The cable rose and the Jedi was evaced high into the ship. The girl, remained on the ground and joined our fight.

That fight didn't last much longer. Soon the last droid was decommissioned, and the forest was silent. But I for one sure as hell didn't feel safe. The girl turned off her Lightsaber, and raised her hands in surrender. That didn't stop every man left from training his blaster on her.

"I would like to speak with your commander." She said. Hearing her voice, I only now noticed that she was young. Very young. The main attention grabber though was the black eyeless mask covering her face.

I looked at the remaining men and realized that the sarge wasn't one of them. That made me the highest rank here now.

"He took a blaster during the fight. You'll have to settle for me." I said, lowering my blaster, but signaling that everyone else should remain ready.

"Good enough. I…"

"You just attacked a Jedi. We have the authority to arrest and detain you." I said, trying to assert my authority. Because of the mask she was wearing, I couldn't tell if it worked.

"You do. You're also on a hostile planet. I imagine you've already called for your evacuation. So if you try to take me, you should know that my ship will send a message to the Sith telling them exactly where that evac point will be."

She could have been bluffing. But we had lost enough men today. As if sensing my thoughts, she suggested.

"Tell whoever you report to that the Jedi was captured. They'll believe you." She said lowering her hands.

I would never call myself a scoundrel. But if she wasn't bluffing, then this was the only way to save my men. By giving one up. I looked around at each of their faces, and consigned myself to what I was about to do.

"Men… grab the tags and start for the drop point." Surprisingly to me, they followed that command without hesitation. I however remained in front of this strange girl.

"Why didn't you just leave with your ship?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Oh I will. You gentlemen seemed like you could use some assistance." She said in a anxious voice indicating she had more to say.

"There's another catch?" I asked, hand ready to dart for my pistol. But there was no need.

"Just a favor."


	2. Chapter 2

When I was working, I was in my own little mood that could not be easily disturbed. Especially with the music blaring into my ears. It made the work go faster, and more importantly it made it fun.

I was dancing around the shop using a spanner as a microphone. I had been told on several occasions that I had a terrible singing voice and just as many times I have told them I didn't care.

I zapped and tapped at the ion engine I was working on in time with the beat, tapping my foot on the poor droid trying to hold me steady.

"Bee-dee." T2-A8 whined. I ignored him as the solo started. The last bolt went in right as the song finished. I examined my work with a sense of pride as I withdrew the headset.

"You finished? I think there's someone in quadrant C that didn't hear you." Said the gruff voice of the head mechanic in our little shop. I turned to see him, removing the safety goggles.

"Hey boss." I said, jumping off the head of the droid and walking towards him. "Ship engines are as good as new. She'll be able to outrun any blockade she comes across."

"Good. I'll let the client know." He looked around my workshop, eyes lingering on my workbench and seeing something covered by a small sheet. He knew better than to ask though.

"So did you get the part?" I asked excitedly. I had been waiting for a week now. His expression was answer enough.

"It's hard to come by Diatium power cell's girl. It may take a few more weeks. Maybe even a month." I let out a groan and crossed my arms. It was no good complaining though. It wasn't the only thing I was missing so in the grand scheme of things…

"Anyway, I was just dropping by to tell you I'll be taking off for awhile. The republic station needs some work so they're contracting the mechanics on the planet."

"Need me?" I asked, whipping away the frustration from a moment ago and replacing it with a coy smile. "Or is your hand doing any better?" he had smashed it in a speeder a few days ago.

"Well enough. In the meantime, you got to run the shop. Got it?" he asked. I offered a playful salute and a grin.

"It'll be ship shape when you get back sir."

"It better be." He said eyebrow raised. With that, he made his way for the exit. I fell on a chair and rolled it to my workbench and removed the sheet. I stared down at my fifth scorched and busted light saber this year. The power cell was shot, but the synthetic crystal's I had been running on just weren't cutting it. The hilt got too hot and the whole thing would short out if it was on longer than a minute.

It was an ugly thing, all the sabers I had made were. Panels were missing showing the inner workings and exposed wires. It looked like it was, cobbled together. It was hard to get the right parts, especially because of the war. But the crystal was the biggest issue. Eventually I would have to find an actual pair of focusing and primary crystals. Problem was if you weren't a Jedi or a Sith, you weren't going to just find one.

As I deliberated, I felt a zap at my shoulder. I jumped, and saw my own little droid floating about trying to offer a few pieces of scrap metal I could use for plating.

"Thanks sis." I don't know why but I had given her that nickname right after I made her. It stuck and she seemed happy with it. She replied with the standard series of noises. I slouched in my chair and closed my eyes. "Oh what am I going to do sis?"

Before she could answer, a red light began to flash on her side. Somebody was trying to contact me. I sprang to my feet, and dragged the giant metal door to my workshop closed. SI-78 beeped letting me know that the channel was secure. I nodded, and she projected a small blue image of Rami Ulluto on my bench. The republic solider I had met on Faa.

"Your sure we're secure right?" he asked hesitantly, looking over his shoulder.

"Yes. SI has a nice little jamming device. And a failsafe in case someone breaks into the feed."

"Alright good. I got the names you asked for. I'm sending them to you now." At that moment, SI project the list right in front of my face.

Yana Crazell, Thessa Aquilla, Viera Carthage, Miranda Dravvad and Taza Makinen. Each one came with a nice portrait. I noted that they were all women, though I couldn't guess if that was significant or coincidence.

"This is exactly what I needed. Thank you Rami. I'll contact you if I need anything else."

"I… assumed that was all you would need." He sounded like a man aware that he was being dragged into something bad.

"You're my inside man now. Unless you would like a recording of our little transaction sent to the republic command?" I smiled. He frowned and offered a brisk farewell and the transmission went dead. He'd warm up to me.

"_There is no emotion, there is peace._

_There is no ignorance, there is knowledge._

_There is no passion, there is serenity._

_There is no chaos, there is harmony._

_There is no death, there is the Force."_

I whispered these words, feeling each and every one of them. As I came to a close, I also became aware of my captor listening outside the door.

"Won't you come in?" I asked. The door slid open, and the girl entered my "room". She had felt no need to put me in restraints of any kind.

"You knew I was there?"

"Don't worry, the ship was silent. I could hear your footsteps."

"I must say, you're handling this better than most do." She said taking a cross legged seat in front of me.

"It is not the first time I have experienced this. Though I know what you have done is permanent." The girl's expression was hidden by her mask, but her shoulders seemed to slump as if in regret.

"I have a few names I would like to ask you about." And so she did. I answered her truthfully, but left certain things out. I think she knew this, but she did not press for more once she had finished.

After she asked about the names, she asked about the crystals of a Lightsaber and where to find them. I thought back to my pilgrimage to Ilum. My master's words rang through my ears. I would never forget the first time my Lightsaber lit.

"Thank you." She said, getting to her feet. She hesitated to leave at the door however.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I have another name to ask you about actually."

"And who would that be?"


	3. Chapter 3

_Through Passion, I gain Strength._

"They're still there?" I whined. SI-78 beeped at me. "I know I should have expected this. But I didn't think they stayed here for days." And days it had been. Three to be precise. For three days I had been floating on the dark side of Ilum's moon waiting for the three carrier's down on the planet to fly off.

It had been a miracle they hadn't detected me when I came out of hyperspace, so I guess I should count myself lucky. Lucky and bored. Oh so very bored. I could only play pazaak so many times and I had fixed everything that even remotely needed tuning on the ship twice over. I was halfway through assembling my own combat droid I had been so bored.

"Does it even look like they're leaving anytime soon?" I asked. SI beeped and booped. "No. I don't really have anything better to do yet." Smarty pants. Why had I ever programmed her with attitude?

For all I knew, they could be here for months of training or whatever they did. I assume it was training. Assembling a Lightsaber couldn't take that long. Hell, I could do it in my sleep by now.

"Well screw it I guess. I'm going down. I'll just have to be sneaky." I said leaping from my chair and making my way to the pilot's seat. SI had a few choice words to reprimand me with but I just hand waved her away. "What? It's not like they'll execute me on sight. If I get caught I can just say my engine was on the fritz and this was the only planet nearby." I reasoned kicking the engines into gear. I mean what's the worst they could do? It's not like they knew who I was.

The temple on Ilum was more impressive than I could have imagined. From the outside, it only appeared as an ancient carved whole in the side of a mountain. But it led into a cave of enormous size, and its walls glittered with the sapphire of the ice, as well as tinier yet somehow brighter emerald and sapphire glow of thousands upon thousands of crystals. One of them was going to be mine.

For now however, my mind was supposed to be focused. Even at this point, within the halls of the order, Master Thessa still insisted that my frame of mind be regimented between meditation and understanding. I think I had a good enough grasp on the reason behind all this, but I had been meditating for going on three hours now, and my brain so easily flew elsewhere.

I peeked one eye open. My fellow padawan's were still deep within their own minds. Master Thessa looked still as well. She had caught me sneaking off more than once during our training, so I had gotten skilled at figuring when she was to in too deep to have awareness of little old me.

I uncrossed my legs and stood to my feet. No response from Thessa or anyone else. On silent feet, I crept from the antechamber we had been using for training for days and wandered deeper into the heart of the temple.

The place was vast, I think Thessa had said that the temple went several kilometers below ground and from what I could see I believed it.

I found my way down a spiral pass into a glittering chamber packed more densely with crystals than any I had yet seen. And not just blue or green that were common among the order. It was practically a rainbow of colors. Yellow, orange, violet, cyan. Every color I could think of. I almost wanted to plead with my master to use one of these. Violet. That's what I would pick if I had the choice. But a crystal of a blue hue was my destiny. There were worse things I guessed.

Something fell to the floor causing a loud echo to ring through the empty halls. At first I thought it was just a natural thing, like a rock falling from the ceiling. This place was centuries old so that wouldn't be out of the ordinary. No what was out of the ordinary was what followed the crash. Nanoseconds after it, I could swear that I heard a muffled voice. Though what it said I couldn't be sure.

Maybe I was imagining it. No one was supposed to be down here, and while that included me I felt that it was my duty to investigate. I moved to where the sound had come from, and found only a small cluster of rocks scattered on the floor. Just as I had thought. Nothing weird.

Content, I turned to resume my place for meditation, when I found my face inches away from another's. And that face couldn't possibly be here.

"Valiana?" The noise barely escaped my lips. I was too shocked to speak properly. I had to be wrong. She couldn't be here. But less than a foot away from me there she was. The lack of hood or visor threw me off, but sure enough I recognized the black hair, the fact that she was small for her age, and her palest eyes.

Eyes. I forgot. She was a Miraluka. She looked just as shocked as I was, because she couldn't see me. But if that was so, why was she looking directly into my own eyes?

"Eris?" she muttered in disbelief. I smiled. So she did recognize me. It must have been by my voice. I couldn't help it. I threw myself around her and hugged her tightly. It had been so long since I had done that to anyone.

"It's been so long." I cried not believing this moment was true. The last time I had seen her had been a week before the Jedi took me for training. It felt like eons, though it had only been ten years.

"Yeah it has." She sounded excited, and maybe a little bemused. "By the way, you're a lot stronger than I remember." This she said as if wheezing, and I realized that I was probably crushing her. A decade of Jedi training had whipped me into fitness. Once released, Valiana took in a deep breath and stared in my general direction. "Well this was a surprise wasn't it?"

I laughed. Yes it was, especially to find her here of all places. Here. The wheels in my head finally started to turn. "It's wonderful to see you, but I have to ask, what are you doing here?"

At this, her eyes widened as if she hadn't thought of that herself.

"I… was called in to do some repairs on a ship in the sector. I finished that, but then my own engines died, so I came here. My sub space communicator was shot too." She replied innocently. That still didn't explain what she was doing down here.

As if she knew I was about to bring this up, she continued: "And alright you caught me I got curious and went exploring. It's not every day you visit a planet that has something like this. And good thing I did too huh?"

Despite her grievous breach of… well I'm sure it was some law, I agreed. It had been a good thing. But it would have to be cut short. I wasn't one for following the rules as often as I should, but this would get the pair of us into massive trouble.

"Look I'm glad to see you, but the Jedi will…" she cut me off.

"Jedi." She stuttered as if only just now realizing something. "You're a Jedi." She sounded horrified as she looked me up and down before grabbing my hand, worry splashed across her face. "The war." she whispered.

She was worried for me. As a civilian how could she not be. My life had so far not been greatly affected by the war. That day was far off still. Or at least it seemed that way.

"I'm a sixteen year old padawan. I won't see any of the war for a few more years." I tried to sound comforting, but it didn't look like she bought it. Regardless, we still had the issue at hand. "Now we need to get you out of here before anyone sees you. It's amazing Master Thessa hasn't sensed you yet." I said trying to drag her along, noticing when I mentioned Master Thessa her expression went blank. I didn't have time to consider this. She had to go.

"Alright, don't worry." I grinned. "If I got in, then I can get out. Don't you have somewhere to be too?"

Eris apparently hadn't thought of that. She basically did the Jedi equivalent of slapping her forehead, which was slapping her forehead but looking really dignified while doing it. "Oh stars you're right. You're sure you can find your way out of here?" she asked looking into my eyes.

I was used to this. Oh so used to this. "Yeah don't worry. Let the blind girl wander through the cold dark and if I may say a little creepy cave." I joked. Eris looked concerned and confused. She still never got my blind jokes. "I'm kidding." I reassured as I took a step back and implied that she should do the same. She did so and before running off, she looked back to me.

"How can I contact you again?" she called. I didn't respond right away. The last thing I thought I would find here was a childhood friend. But I had faith that she wouldn't tell anyone who she had found down here. And besides, what did she really know? Nothing. And I intended to keep it that way, but I was also adamant that we weren't separated from each other. I wanted to keep her as a friend if I could. For more than one reason.

"I work at a mechanic's shop on Alderaan. In Aldera sector C. Ask for the Miraluka I guess. I'm the only one." And with that, I disappeared further into the cave.

Well hadn't this been a day? I had reunited with an old friend and learned firsthand knowledge of the layout of the temple. I had learned my best friend is the padawan of a knight I'm going to kill, and that she's here within reach.

And, I thought, using the force to hold the silver crystal a few inches above my palm. I had found myself a proper crystal. "The crystal is the heart of the blade." I mused, thinking of the Jedi's words on the subject. "And it wasn't a Jedi that was going to be using it."


End file.
